40 Years in the USA, and that ain't no April Fools joke!

At the Bayside Coffee Shop

This picture was taken the morning we left for the airport
My brothers, sister-in-law and my little sister in the front

Fourty years ago today I stepped off an American Airlines airplane at San Francisco International airport and began my American adventure.

Initially I was only staying for two years. My uncle had invited me to come and be their housekeeper. He was visiting in Holland when he made the offer and must have felt generous. Not sure if he realized that I would take him up on his invitation!

He and my aunt became my sponsors, I started the long process of filling out papers and waiting for my visa. In those days you still needed to jump through a lot of hoops, there were shots to take, tests to take, pictures to take, miles of papers to fill out. After about a year everything was set and I was ready to go.
I paid for the trip myself. I didn't have any money saved, but my parents had saved the money I paid them for room and board all those years. What a nice surprise! It was the first and last time I ever saw a 1000 guilder bill! (My parents came through once again, as they would for pretty much most of my life, if I needed them, they were there)

To say I was awed about America is an understatement.
I was a very green 21 year old, (I thought I was very grown up) it was amazing how smoothly I made it safe and sound to California.
I had to transfer in New York. I vaguely remember calling my aunt and uncle (collect!) and taking a taxi to another part of the airport. I did not pay for the taxi, nor did I tip the guy, hey, what did I know! I am sure that pure ignorance got me through that trip. That, and some Grace from above.

I also remember a vague conversation with a girl on the AA flight from NYC to SFO telling me that the Kennedys were BAD news and that they were not to be trusted. (Presidential elections were going on, Bobby Kennedy was running) Again, what the heck did I know!!
Only later did I realize what an important time in history I was stepping into there.

I arrived at SFO with my pretty dress and fancy coat and big hat, my glam sunglasses, and my guitar. Looking back I have to laugh. My uncle had just bought a brand new Chevy Malibu. I had NEVER ridden in a real BIG American car before. It was HUGE, white with red upholstery
My cousin (Ignatz) was so happy to see me, he finally had a sister!

I seriously believed that I was going to be the housekeeper, and I had grand plans to "do" the work in the morning and sit outside in the yard at the water in the afternoon.

HA!

That first Sunday, my aunt and uncle took me to the restaurant they owned in Burlingame. The Bayside Coffee shop. My excitement took quite a dip when my uncle showed me the Coke machine and said: "this is where YOU will be working"

GHASP!!!!!!!WHAT??????NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

The coffee shop was a cafeteria type restaurant. They were only open for breakfast and lunch since it was located in an industrial/office area.
I was paid $50 a week, of which I had to pay $15 for room and board.

Don't get me wrong, this may all sound a bit whiny, but I truly did not expect to have to work so hard! We would get up at 4am, we wore blue drip dry fabric shirts and skirts, and white cotton aprons, and white nurses shoes. Thank God we didn't have to wear hair nets (or did we? I forget.) We left after everyone was gone after lunch and the place was spic and span sparkling clean.
I worked my little ass off. As did everyone else. I learned an awful lot.
My uncle's motto: "There is a place for everything, and everything should be in it's place," still rings in my ear.
My aunts did all the cooking. Everything was made from scratch. A whole turkey roasted every day, a whole roast beef every day. They made homemade splitpea soup every day, and once in a while chicken croquettes.
The place was very popular, and my relatives did very well.

I started eating American food: French Toast, fried eggs with bacon, Danish pastries, pancakes! Steak, (lots of meat! I wasn't used to eating MEAT every darn day! At home we ate ONE egg a week, here we had at least two a day!) When I arrived in the US I weighted 98 pounds. I gained 30 within a year!

One of the reasons I wanted to leave home was that I had a tough time with my mom. She wanted me to be a certain way, I wanted the opposite. She wanted me to finish high school, I wanted to WORK. I managed to finish 4 years of school, doing one class twice, but I never got my high school diploma.

I had a few jobs before I came to the States. I was a typist in the mail room for a Dutch Men's wear store, and after that I worked for a laboratory that tested plant/flower/tree seeds for the government.

My relationship with mom did not get any better as the years went on. I wanted to get away, FAR away. If only for a few years!

In October of 1968 I met my first husband. I'll call him Puri for this blog. He worked at a record distributorship company across the street from the restaurant, and came for lunch every day.

Another brand new experience for this green girl. This guy was 9 years older, was divorced (and not catholic) and had two kids. I thought I had escaped the strict and Catholic attitude of my parents, but my aunt and uncle were just as bad. (talk about Kharma! *LOL*)

Puri had a racing green Triumph TR4.... little car. With a wooden dashboard, a convertible. WOWIE!
He worked for a record company which meant: going to a lot of concerts, and meeting lots of artists, and...smoking a lot of grass.
He lived in a cute little cottage, and we had fun spending the weekends together when he had the kids, who were 4 and 5 at that time. Spending the night together was severely frowned upon, but I didn't care.

One time when Puri took me home after a date (it WAS late) both my aunts were standing in the dark living room waiting for me, they scared the daylights out of me! They were very angry. :>)

I have to mention here that besides my aunt and uncle and cousin, another aunt lived with us, the unmarried one. More about her later :>)

My parents came to visit in June of 1969, their very first trip abroad. I told them that Puri and I wanted to move in together. Well.......................................
I was told that if it's all the same, why not JUST get married?
So...we did! The wedding was arranged within a week, so my parents could attend. I think they were unpleasantly surprised that I took them up on their offer. Haha...
We were married at a friends' house in the Oakland hills, they provided the champagne and the cake. It really was a very lovely little wedding.
Our honeymoon was a trip to Santa Cruz in an old crappy Plymouth (the Triumph had been repossessed by then). Since we didn't have any reservation and all the hotels were full, we drove back home and spent our wedding night at "home" on the trundle bed.

All this seems a lifetime ago. Really. It's mind boggling to realize that I have lived here 2/3 of my life.

So many memories, so many stories.....and in time I will write them all down...

I guess no one but me realized what day it is for me today, doesn't seem important, but to me it's like a birthday. After all, I did start a whole new life.

SGMKJ!